Burbs
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Which night of Fireworks is it? The Saturday night or the Sunday night?
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Towers Loving Care
- Thread starter Randomizer462
- Start date
Having walked the gardens at length last year,
and as a professional gardener,
I think I can honestly say that in 35 years of visiting the Towers,
I have never seen the gardens in a worse condition.
Planting overgrown,
little or no bedding plants,
weeds everywhere,
grass cuttings not collected...
Towers Loving Care does not run to the gardens.
Shame on you Merlin.
and as a professional gardener,
I think I can honestly say that in 35 years of visiting the Towers,
I have never seen the gardens in a worse condition.
Planting overgrown,
little or no bedding plants,
weeds everywhere,
grass cuttings not collected...
Towers Loving Care does not run to the gardens.
Shame on you Merlin.
Long time lurker, first time poster here.
I have been going to Alton Towers every year now for the past 15 years, and whilst I can appreciate that things have changed at Alton Towers, and some not for the better, I do think *some* of the criticism the park gets among online communities is fairly harsh and unwarranted. I am, of course, disappointed that six rides have been removed from the line up this year, as is everyone, and the constant arrival of new fences is somewhat odd, but I still feel, after all these years, that the pros still outweigh the cons.
Firstly, I don't think anywhere in the UK, or even in Europe, can compete with Alton Towers for roller coasters. Nemesis, Oblivion, The Smiler, Air (or Galactica), Th13teen and Rita make up a pretty impressive line up when you consider a lot of large parks have a total of three major rollercoasters or sometimes even less (and this is before the arrival of SW8). Yes, so not all of them are "world class", but I'd say Nemesis, Oblivion and The Smiler definitely are, and I don't consider any of the coasters at Towers bad in any way. Oblivion may have been done bigger in other parks, but that doesn't necessarily mean better. As Wardley said, a coaster doesn't have to be the biggest or most extreme in the world to be a truly brilliant ride experience - I'd take Oblivion over Shiekra any day of the week, and I still consider Nemesis to be the best and most thrilling coaster ever built. As for the rest of the park, whilst the family line up has obviously taken a knock due to the cut backs and closures (which, as I said earlier, is a massive shame), I still consider CBeebies Land to be of a very high quality and far better than Old MacDonald's Farmyward ever was.
The accommodation is overpriced for what it is, but it isn't substandard. Having stayed at many travelodges and premier inns as part of my job, I can't agree that the Resort Hotels are on the same fairly basic standard as these. And maybe I've just been extremely lucky, but I've never had bad food at the Secret Garden (although I admit the waiting times can sometimes be an issue). As for the pricing, I agree the prices for the theme park are too high if you buy on the day, but then I've always wondered why so many people do this when it's far cheaper to book online in advance.
I think the point I'm trying to make is that, after all these years, I still get immense enjoyment from visiting Alton Towers. And it's not purely for nostalgic reasons, but because I still think there IS a lot to offer. I just can't agree with the earlier poster who questioned what Alton Towers has left to offer overall. Having last been to the park just under a month ago, I still had a truly magical experience. To me, there is nothing quite like the walk down Towersstreet seeing the Towers standing majestically in the distance, approaching Forbidden Valley and hearing Nemesis roar before you can even see her, riding Nemesis 8 times in a row, the feeling of sheer terror at the top of Oblivion, the views from the SkyRide, the walk through the gardens - to me, it will always be the park that I chose to visit over any other. And whilst the closed rides are concerning, the TLC done in certain areas of the park is of a fairly high standard (even if the TLC program was a fairly obvious marketing scheme to hide heavy budget cuts).
Sorry if that seems like a huge ramble (which I suppose it was
), but Alton Towers has always meant a lot to me, and it still does. I'm not for one second saying that anyone is in anyway wrong to have a highly negative opinion on the park, but I just felt the need to offer an alternative viewpoint, for the sake of balance.
I have been going to Alton Towers every year now for the past 15 years, and whilst I can appreciate that things have changed at Alton Towers, and some not for the better, I do think *some* of the criticism the park gets among online communities is fairly harsh and unwarranted. I am, of course, disappointed that six rides have been removed from the line up this year, as is everyone, and the constant arrival of new fences is somewhat odd, but I still feel, after all these years, that the pros still outweigh the cons.
Firstly, I don't think anywhere in the UK, or even in Europe, can compete with Alton Towers for roller coasters. Nemesis, Oblivion, The Smiler, Air (or Galactica), Th13teen and Rita make up a pretty impressive line up when you consider a lot of large parks have a total of three major rollercoasters or sometimes even less (and this is before the arrival of SW8). Yes, so not all of them are "world class", but I'd say Nemesis, Oblivion and The Smiler definitely are, and I don't consider any of the coasters at Towers bad in any way. Oblivion may have been done bigger in other parks, but that doesn't necessarily mean better. As Wardley said, a coaster doesn't have to be the biggest or most extreme in the world to be a truly brilliant ride experience - I'd take Oblivion over Shiekra any day of the week, and I still consider Nemesis to be the best and most thrilling coaster ever built. As for the rest of the park, whilst the family line up has obviously taken a knock due to the cut backs and closures (which, as I said earlier, is a massive shame), I still consider CBeebies Land to be of a very high quality and far better than Old MacDonald's Farmyward ever was.
The accommodation is overpriced for what it is, but it isn't substandard. Having stayed at many travelodges and premier inns as part of my job, I can't agree that the Resort Hotels are on the same fairly basic standard as these. And maybe I've just been extremely lucky, but I've never had bad food at the Secret Garden (although I admit the waiting times can sometimes be an issue). As for the pricing, I agree the prices for the theme park are too high if you buy on the day, but then I've always wondered why so many people do this when it's far cheaper to book online in advance.
I think the point I'm trying to make is that, after all these years, I still get immense enjoyment from visiting Alton Towers. And it's not purely for nostalgic reasons, but because I still think there IS a lot to offer. I just can't agree with the earlier poster who questioned what Alton Towers has left to offer overall. Having last been to the park just under a month ago, I still had a truly magical experience. To me, there is nothing quite like the walk down Towersstreet seeing the Towers standing majestically in the distance, approaching Forbidden Valley and hearing Nemesis roar before you can even see her, riding Nemesis 8 times in a row, the feeling of sheer terror at the top of Oblivion, the views from the SkyRide, the walk through the gardens - to me, it will always be the park that I chose to visit over any other. And whilst the closed rides are concerning, the TLC done in certain areas of the park is of a fairly high standard (even if the TLC program was a fairly obvious marketing scheme to hide heavy budget cuts).
Sorry if that seems like a huge ramble (which I suppose it was
), but Alton Towers has always meant a lot to me, and it still does. I'm not for one second saying that anyone is in anyway wrong to have a highly negative opinion on the park, but I just felt the need to offer an alternative viewpoint, for the sake of balance.
Burbs
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Last night is usually dirt cheap anyway (for Towers' standards).
Rick
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Crux
Hmm, I think they're ok. I'm on the fence about it.
PeteB
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
I can agree with the list of poor offerings discussed above, but I don't agree that Scarefest and Fireworks are "fantastic" seasonal events.
For Halloween try Tulleys, Scare Kingdom, Xtreme Scream Park, York Hallowscream, Broadwitch Haunt Fest, Dr Frights, Screamfest Burton.... the list goes on and they all offer more than Alton's line up. Even Thorpe does it better and that's a Merlin park.
For Fireworks it's pretty much the same, I could list hundreds of events on par with the Alton show, I work part time in fireworks and event production. Leeds Castle in Kent is a particularly good show. It's longer than Alton's too, running at 30 minutes.
For Halloween try Tulleys, Scare Kingdom, Xtreme Scream Park, York Hallowscream, Broadwitch Haunt Fest, Dr Frights, Screamfest Burton.... the list goes on and they all offer more than Alton's line up. Even Thorpe does it better and that's a Merlin park.
For Fireworks it's pretty much the same, I could list hundreds of events on par with the Alton show, I work part time in fireworks and event production. Leeds Castle in Kent is a particularly good show. It's longer than Alton's too, running at 30 minutes.
Rick
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Crux
@PeteB You don't think you have to look at the Alton events as supplementary to a day at the park? If a firework display, or halloween attraction is 'on a par' - Alton trumps it by a mile given that there is an entire park at your disposal for the best part of 12 hours for not THAT much more, with a BOGOF.
AliceHL91
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis, Oblivion
All I heard were bad reviews about fright nights last year
PeteB
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Thorpe lacks the same level of fanboys that Alton has, there isn't enough people walking around with rose tinted glasses on give that place good reviews.
Actually, it's still a Merlin park, so no it's not amazing.
owentaylor121
TS Member
I'm not a Towers fanboy by anymeans but Scarefest was miles better than fright nights! Scarefest last year was easily the best Halloween event I did last year and as for the fireworks, name another UK park thar does a better display?...
Skyscraper
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Where about in the booking process did you enter the code? Was it online? Can't seem to find any place to enter the code online, though it may of gone!
Scott
Former TS Team Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Sun codes were bookable via altontowers.com/sunpromo but I think they had to be booked by now so the page may not work anymore. There's other 50% off hotel codes floating around right now though.
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As for fences... I was astounded when seeing pictures of some of this years installations (Katanga particularly) but now I've seen them in person they really aren't as bad as expected. Yes I'd prefer they weren't there but no they're not the end of the world.
Didn't notice the new Dark Forest ones either.
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I don't know, I wasn't the one who booked it. Definitely a code box somewhere. Would look, but it's one of the least tablet-friendly sites I've ever tried to use. Probably says somewhere in the FAQ'S though. Think you can do it by phone too. Also like to point out that I used the sun code on top of the merlin discount onthe cheapest day of the year and booked more than half a year early, if that explains how I got it so cheap.
James
TS Founding Member
Since they've moved over booking to an external company to handle they've removed all traces of code boxes on the website, unless you can get on a specific web page with the code box on (like The Sun page).
The website is a mess again imo, it's difficult to navigate and not very user friendly at all. I'd dread to think how people who have never been try to find information on there.
The website is a mess again imo, it's difficult to navigate and not very user friendly at all. I'd dread to think how people who have never been try to find information on there.
Scott
Former TS Team Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
You can't stack codes so I doubt you got MAP discount and the Sun promo
And I know this isn't a competition but there's currently Splash rooms going for £51 on the last night of season using a different 50% off code
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I'm sure we did (that's what my dad's just told me anyway, not sure though, he's not exactly great at this sort of thing).You can't stack codes so I doubt you got MAP discount and the Sun promo
And I know this isn't a competition but there's currently Splash rooms going for £51 on the last night of season using a different 50% off code
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